Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Our Themes in the Present

Brave New World: Nikkita mentioned travel blogs and food
blogs as an example of discovery and I would like to add the series Humans of New York to the list.
Although, I would commonly classify this series as an example of "What a
Piece of Work is Man," the latest profiling of refugees’ experience has
really felt more like a discovery of the refugee hardship.

Ad Fontes: I've written about this before, but I feel like
the audio book is a way of going back to the source, in the sense that before
literacy was the standard people's source of stories came from oral retellings.
Although the audiobook simply verbalizes a pre-written text, I feel like it
brings back the spoken word in a world that is full of independent readers,
instead of communal listeners, if that makes sense.

What a Piece of Work is Man: Nowadays, opinion blog pieces
get circulated with more frequency than well researched academic work, and I
think this comes from a sense that the human mind's thoughts carry more weight
and power of persuasion than the truth of science or facts. The musings of the
human brain are praised as the final word on a lot of current issues.

Ploughboys and Bibles: The church's recent "I'm a
Mormon" campaign is a good example of individuals taking to social media
to educate others about what it means to be a member of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. In addition each person has the right to add their
own twist to how they interpret and apply their religious beliefs on an
individual basis.

Typographia Conservatix: Jazz expressed sadness over the
thought that someday print books might go extinct, and I echo this sentiment
while refusing to believe the printed word will go out of style. The life span
of a book will always ensure that print versions stay relevant; servers wear
out and links die out eventually, but we still have copies of ancient text nowadays.
Nevertheless, I feel that Kindles have contributed to the preservation of not
only texts, but also reading. Just like the printing press made it possible for
people to own their own copies of the Bible, the kindle makes it so that
someone on a budget can purchase a book for a lower price, if not free
sometimes.

Sprezzatura: Dating apps, dating apps, dating apps! Just
like Queen Elizabeth used the courting culture to simulate a courting scenario,
dating apps use a seemingly effortless skill (like swiping right or left) to
create the oh so complicated romantic/dating relationships of today.